The American Home Furnishings Alliance announced that a cost-effective, one-day program packed with practical strategies for improving efficiency at U.S. manufacturing operations is planned for May 21 at the Airport Embassy Suites, Greensboro.
Although it is sponsored by the American Home Furnishings Alliance, the 2010 Manufacturing Summit is open to all interested home furnishings executives. Companies do not have to be AHFA members to register.
Leading off the 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. program is Jeremy Leonard, economic consultant for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Inc., a business research organization based in Arlington, Va. Leonard’s work includes widely-cited research on the cost pressures affecting U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and sources of productivity growth. His overview of the state of manufacturing will draw on MAPI’s most recent quarterly economic forecast. By supplying major assumptions for the economy and running simulations through the IHS Global Insight Macroeconomic Model, MAPI generates unique macroeconomic and industry forecasts.
Leonard is followed on the program by Jerry Epperson, managing director of Mann, Armistead & Epperson Ltd., Richmond, Va. Epperson’s furniture industry overview and analysis is a perennial program highlight.
Afternoon speakers include Robert Camp, a leading authority on benchmarking. Camp spent 23 years at Xerox Corp., where he created benchmarking programs and led large-scale benchmarking investigations. He is the author of “Benchmarking: The Search for Industry Best Practices that Lead to Superior Performance.”
The afternoon will also feature Dr. Randy Cook, a clinical professor in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, as well as director of education with the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence. The Shingo Prize is named for a Japanese industrial engineer who distinguished himself as one of the world’s leading experts on improving manufacturing processes. Cook will offer insights to the Shingo Prize philosophy, which emphasizes integration of lean principles, lean systems of management and the application of lean tools and techniques to creating a culture of continuous improvement.
Registration is $149 for AHFA member company executives and $249 for non-member company executives. The fee includes an opening reception at the Embassy Suites Thursday evening, May 20, as well as lunch on Friday, May 21. Register online at www.ahfa.us. Under the Events tab, click on Manufacturing Summit.
Hotel reservations can be made by contacting the Embassy Suites directly at 336/668-4535, or www.embassysuitesgreensboro.com.
The American Home Furnishings Alliance, based in High Point, N.C., is the largest association of home furnishings companies in the world and represents more than 200 leading furniture manufacturers and distributors, plus about 150 suppliers to the furniture industry worldwide.